Kennedy pocketed $50,000 for his efforts, as did Michael
Chiesa, who was awarded “Submission of the Night” after
stopping Colton
Smith to open the evening’s main draw. Meanwhile, Rustam
Khabilov and Jorge
Masvidal picked up “Fight of the Night” honors for their
three-round lightweight affair from Fort Campbell in Hopkinsville,
Ky.

Kennedy was measured in his approach through the majority of round
one, pursuing Natal while fending off low kicks from the unorthodox
“Sapo.” The ex-Army ranger suddenly exploded, however, dropping
Natal with a hard left hook and then pounding him out with just 20
seconds remaining in the frame.

Earlier, Chiesa weathered an early storm from Smith, who caught the
“TUF 15” winner’s back and threatened with a rear-naked choke in
round one. Chiesa then responded in the second, dumping Smith on
his head with a hip toss before cinching his own rear-naked choke
to force the tap out.

Khabilov and Masvidal traded tit-for-tat over 15 hard-fought
minutes, with neither man able to gain a definitive advantage until
the Dagestani dropped Masvidal with a wild spinning hook kick to
the neck in round three. Though Masvidal recovered from the blow
quickly, he came up short on the judges’ scorecards, falling via
unanimous decision.